Sure, it hurts to have to pay a lawyer. But are attorneys’ fees a compensable “injury” under the law?

When officials at Texas A&M University got word that members of a student group called the Parsons Mounted Cavalry might be hazing recruits, it initiated disciplinary proceedings against several group members.

The members sued the school in state court, claiming constitutional violations. After a state trial court ruled in their favor and blocked the school from pursuing disciplinary action, they filed another suit against the school – this time in federal court.

That’s when things really got interesting. While the federal suit was pending, the state trial court’s decision was reversed by a state appeals court. The appeals court said the students didn’t suffer an injury because the disciplinary process was never completed.

The federal court then ruled for the school as well, similarly concluding that the students never really suffered an injury. By that time, the students had all graduated.

The students filed an appeal in the federal case, saying they did suffer an injury in that they paid attorneys’ fees. The threat of discipline left them no choice but to sue, they argued.

A federal appeals court rejected their appeal. Parties who voluntarily sue and lose cannot later sue to recover their attorneys’ fees as a compensable injury, it decided.

Cite: Hole v. Texas A&M University.

Tags: attorneys' fees, hazing, Texas A&M